Seismology experts warned for years nuclear plants can't withstand true worst-case scenario

[bananas]

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110327a3.html

Sunday, March 27, 2011
Signs of disaster were there to see
Seismology experts warned for years nuclear plants can't withstand true worst-case scenario

By JUN HONGO
Staff writer

On Feb. 23, 2005, Kobe University professor Katsuhiko Ishibashi appeared before the Lower House Budget Committee and pointed out the risks of operating nuclear power plants in earthquake-prone Japan.

"An earthquake and its seismic thrust can hit multiple parts (of a nuclear plant)" and induce not one but a variety of breakdowns, Ishibashi, an expert on Earth and planetary sciences, told the lawmakers.

Such a scenario could knock out even the backup safety system and possibly result in a "severe accident," such as overheating of the reactor core or even a runaway nuclear reaction, he warned.

Warnings like this from Ishibashi and other experts went largely unheeded.

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[grahamhgreen]

1. k&r

[dkf]

2. I wonder if their scenarios projected even the tsunami zone.

Slightly different topic, but our Governor wants to use up the entire hurricane fund we created when the last hurricane chased all the insurance companies away. It's obvious that we need that fund or our people won't be able to buy houses and get mortgages if history repeats itself. But they can't figure out how to balance the budget so he will leave us in this predicament.

Governments have just as hard a time with worst case scenario planning as any for profit. They too will compromise where they ought not to tempt fate.

[Tesha]

3. We didn't need to hear from them pointy-headed scientificy types anyway.

Everything we need to know is written in The Good Book.
Especially that chapter "Nucleyides", umm, right here...

(Thumbs through tome furiously...)

Tesha

[Jackpine Radical]

4. Them scientisters. Rong on evolusion,

rong on gloobl warming, rong on nukylar raddation.

[LiberalEsto]

5. There you go again

quoting from Dubya Bush's coloring book.

[Jackpine Radical]

6. Aw, Krapp.

Kotchd.

[crickets]

7. Reality, is that you?

It looks like the blame game has started too.

[BeFree]

8. There is only one to be blamed

We've seen some blame the environmentalists. Some blame the government. Etc.

But it is the Nuclear Power industry that is to blame for all these problems.

[PamW]

9. Quake or Tsunami?

What was he talking about "quake" or "tsunami".

The Fukushima plant withstood the plant very well. The quake itself didn't
cause the present problems.

The present problems were caused by the tsunami.

Even the tsunami wouldn't have done this if Tokyo Electric hadn't put the
backup diesel generators in a non-watertight basement.

They had to know that a tsunami was a possibility.

If a tsunami washes over your plant, and your basement is not watertight, then
the basement is going to get flooded.

The had to know that it was important to protect the diesel generators.

Then why oh WHY did they ever think that the basement was a good place for
the diesel generators.

In US plants, the NRC requires that the diesel generators and their fuel tanks
be properly protected.

PamW